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| kudzu bug Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) image by Joseph LaForest, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org |
I wrote
about a recent invasive arrival to the United States last year Sunday, October
30, 2011"A
new invasive species: Asian kudzu bug Megacopta cribraria attacks legumes in US"
This newcomer to American ecosystems, Megacopta
cribraria, is native to India and China and is also found in Indonesia,
Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The
bean plataspid is pea-sized, greenish brown, and round with a wide posterior. In
case you need to know, the insect to
waddle when it walks on a surface and is an excellent flier.[1]
This insect
is an invasive species from Asia that attacks soybean and other legumes. It
also beneficially also feeds on kudzu, an invasive plant species that has
spread throughout the southern United States. This sets up a classic collision of
desires for it is reducing some of the invasion pressure of kudzu while at the
same time threatening the heart of American agriculture. USDA-APHIS reports that the "pest, which
is sometimes called the kudzu bug or lablab bug, was first detected in the United
States in November 2009 on kudzu in Barrow County, GA. At that time, a number
of homeowners complained about a large number of bugs that had swarmed onto the
sides of their homes and other structures, leaving a mildly offensive or bitter
odor in their wake. As of August 2010, the bean plataspid has been identified
throughout Georgia, in numerous South Carolina counties, and in one North
Carolina county."
So far
this particular blog - and this pest - reads like the innumerable other posts
about invasive pests that have established in the United States and are causing
harm to our ecosystems and the services and resources they provide. And,
because it is more of the same thing, most of us are becoming hardened to the
point of being inured and unconcerned by
what seems to be background disturbance, a life-style noise and an acceptable
condition of modern life. In other words, as with most things today that
involve the environment, the this invasive insect and the damage it causes are
someone else's problem because it is not directly impacting anything we care
about at the moment.
It turns
out that there are places in the world that do not want this invasive insect
and are willing to stop American shipping from bring our goods such as cotton
to their ports.[2]
Honduran officials refused thousands of pounds of goods already landed in their
ports this winter after finding several dead bugs in the bottom of cargo
containers because of their concerned after learning about reports from China indicating
that the bean plataspid can significantly impact springtime soybean crop losses
of up to 50 percent and summertime losses of up to 30 percent. It does not help
that the bean plataspid is also listed as a harmful pest of Chinese fruit
trees. If it moves to other host plants in the Americas, the pest has the
potential to cause significant agricultural damage.[3]
Amazingly
enough we have been fighting invasive species before there was a United States
of America (Connecticut
keeps trying to ban plants). An invasive species, the Hessian
fly, established itself during the American revolution and worked havoc on
our young nation's commercial trade. what is new is that invasive species are
entering and establishing at ever growing rates. We are being overwhelmed by a
biological oil-slick, a living forest fire that is permanently altering our
ecosystems and the services they render. Our response is to mimic the ostrich -
to hear no evil and see no wrong, to leave to a future generation the task of
cleaning up and responding to the damage we are allowing to happen.
We need
to find money to raise awareness and engage the political process.
[1]
USDA-APHIS PPQ Invasive Insect (Bean Plataspid) Poses Risk to Soybean Crops and
Infests Homes in Southeastern States. [accessed May 20, 2012] http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/content/printable_version/fs_beanpla.pdf
[2]
National Cotton Council. kudzu bug remediation. [accessed May 20, 2012] http://www.cotton.org/tech/flow/kudzu-bug-remediation.cfm
[3]
Erin France. April 8, 2012. Kudzu bugs raise concerns. erin.france@onlineathens.com/
[accessed May 20. 2012] http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2012-04-08
1 comment:
How ironic, a Kudzu eater that is also invasive..And yes, where is the money to come from to clear the land of invasives? We need a citizen army armed with shovels & pruners..
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